Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom)
Space Mountain is an indoor steel-type roller coaster ride in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. It is the first Space Mountain in the popular attraction series. In 2009, Space Mountain became the oldest operating roller coaster in Florida when Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven closed. History Concept and Design The idea for Space Mountain originally came from Disney's first "mountain" attraction, The Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland in California, which opened in 1959. The success of that ride convinced Walt Disney that thrill rides did have a place in his park. In 1964, Walt approached designer John Hench with an idea for a new attraction that would become the focal point of the 1967 Tomorrowland. His "spaceport" would include a roller coaster in the dark type ride. It was originally named Space Voyage but after several design refinements, the projects was renamed Space Mountain in June 1966. WED partnered with Arrow Development Company who also helped design the brakes system on the Matterhorn several years earlier. While the original plan was to have four separate tracks but due to the limited technology at the time along with space limitations in Disneyland, such designs were impossible. Walt Disney's death and the shift in focus to the Disney World project forced WED to put aside Space Mountain. The Magic Kingdom opened October 1, 1971, and was a huge success. Its unexpected popularity with teens and young adults prompted WED to begin planning thrill rides that would go in the new park. A new Matterhorn was considered but it wouldn't fit into Florida's Fantasyland. Ultimately, designers returned to the Space Mountain Idea. The Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland at the time was only half completed. Only a handful of attractions were operational on opening week. This meant that there was plenty of room to build Space Mountain. Technology has also improved significantly since initial planning for the attraction began. Several designs for Space Mountain were changed before adopting its current design and layout. One of the designs had the tracks going in and out of the structure. The mountain was originally going to be placed south of Tomorrowland, which is where the Disneyland version would be built in 1977. But instead, it was positioned outside of the parks barrier on the opposite side of the Walt Disney World Railroad tracks. To get guests onto the attraction, they built a tunnel under the railroad tracks that guest would go through. This tunnel is known as the "Star Corridor". Construction and Opening Space Mountain began construction on December 15, 1972, and cost around 20 million dollars. Only two tracks were built: Alpha and Omega. Both are the mirror image of each other except that Alpha is 10 feet long in order to make the layout fit. The entrance and exit were built near the Skyway station. Around this time, most of Tomorrowland as it is today was also being built. The back half of the WEDWay Peoplemover was being completed as well as the Carousel of Progress and Astro Jets. Space Mountain opened on January 15, 1975. The attraction was dedicated on opening day. There was a two thousand member band that played on the tracks of the PeopleMover. Notable attendees were Scott Carpenter (astronaut on Mercury 7), Gordon Cooper (astronaut on Mercury 9 and Gemini 5), and Jim Irwin (engineer and astronaut on Apollo 15). Present Day This is Space Mountain, blast off into the galaxy of Tomorrowland. Space Mountain is thrill ride high speed roller coaster with launch drops and stops and as you can see right next to the Disney monorail Space Mountain is in the Magic Kingdom. Gallery Category:Attractions in Magic Kingdom Category:Attractions with original themes Category:Indoor attractions Category:Mountain attractions Category:Roller coasters Category:Science-fiction-themed attractions Category:Tomorrowland Category:Magic Kingdom Category:Thrill Rides